The European Parliament’s travelling circus is on the road again for the first time since May’s EU election.
MEPs have decamped to Strasbourg, France for another plenary session that runs until Thursday.
The whole to’ing and fro’ing between Brussels and the French city costs an estimated 180 million euros.
Once, lawmakers have unpacked their suitcases, their first task will be to pick a new parliament president.
The last person to hold the job on a permanent basis was Martin Schulz.
He stood down just before the end of his two and a half year term in the middle of June this year.
The German MEP is now favourite to return to the post.
Agreements between the two largest parties, the centre-right European People’s Party and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, have seen the position shared between them in the past.
But now former Luxembourg prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, a Christian democrat, has been designated as the president of the European Commission by EU leaders.
In return for their support for Juncker, centre-left lawmakers demanded that one of their own take on the parliament presidency.
